Self-directed support: A National Strategy for Scotland

Annex 1: Glossary

1. Access to Work

Access to Work offers help to individuals with a disability or health condition that affects the way they do their work. Access to Work advisers can give the employee and their employer, advice and support with extra costs that may arise because of the individuals needs.

Access to Work might pay towards equipment, adapting premises or a support worker. It can also pay towards the cost of getting to work if the individual is not able to use trains or buses.

2. Charging Policy

Each council determines charging policy for services within a framework designed by COSLA that aims to maintain local accountability and discretion while encouraging councils to demonstrate that in arriving at charges they have followed best practice.

3. Centre For Independent Living ( CIL)

A Centre for independent Living provides support, advice and consultancy and aims to enable people to be equal citizens with choice, control and rights and full economic, social and cultural lives.

4. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy ( CIPFA)

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy is the professional body representing people in public finance.

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and was opened for signature on 30 March 2007.

The Convention marks a "paradigm shift" in attitudes and approaches to persons with disabilities. It takes to a new height the movement from viewing persons with disabilities as "objects" of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards viewing persons with disabilities as "subjects" with rights, who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions for their lives based on their free and informed consent as well as being active members of society.

6. Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( COSLA)

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities is the representative voice of Scottish local government and also acts as the employers' association on behalf of all Scottish councils.

7. Direct Payment ( DP)

Direct payments are defined in legislation and are payments in lieu of services provided directly to individuals assessed as being in need of community care services.

8. Disabled Living Allowance ( DLA)

The Disabled Living Allowance is a UK-wide tax free living allowance for children and adults who need help with personal care or have walking difficulties because they have a physical or mental disability. It is not available for people who are over 65 years of age when they claim. DLA has two components - a care component (3 levels according to need) and a mobility component (2 levels according to need). Claimants may be eligible for one or both, depending on their needs.

9. Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP)

The Department for Work and Pensions is the government department responsible for welfare. It works with people of working age, employers, disabled people, pensioners, families and children, providing services through a number of executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

10. Independent Living

Independent living means disabled people of all ages having the same freedom, choice, dignity and control as other citizens at home, at work, and in the community. It does not mean living by yourself or fending for yourself. It means rights to practical assistance and support to participate in society and live an ordinary life.

11. Independent Living Fund ( ILF)

The Independent Living Fund is designed to enable people who are severely disabled to live independently at home rather than in residential care. It is available to people who are over 16 years old and under 65 years of age when they apply. It is a discretionary payment that is managed within rules set by Trustees of the Fund.

12. Independent Living movement

A number of disabled people have come together to form the Independent Living movement. The movement promotes the idea of independent living; along with a number of entitlements, which, if met, would enable disabled people to participate fully and equally in society.

13. Individual Budget

Individual budgets are an allocation of funding given to users after an assessment for support. The assessment of the budget should be through a transparent process that demonstrates compliance with community care and other legislation. Where there has been a joint assessment, the budget may include money for health and educational/training needs.

14. Indicator of Relative Need ( IoRN)

Essentially, the IoRN is a questionnaire comprising 12 questions that draw on the information a practitioner will already have gathered from an individual's assessment of need. The IoRN was developed as a national tool to be applied following the assessment of older people which places individuals into relative need groupings from low (A) to high (I).

15. Joint Improvement Team ( JIT)

The Joint Improvement Team was established in late 2004 to work directly with local health and social care partnerships across Scotland. Its main focus is to provide practical support and additional capacity to partnerships so as to help address the issues and challenges they face.

16. Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003

The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 provides a statutory framework for the Community Planning process. The Act makes provision for Ministers to issue guidance about participation in Community Planning.

17. National Performance Framework

The National Performance Framework has been introduced to underpin delivery against the government's agenda. The National Performance Framework is designed to encourage the delivery of real and meaningful improvements in public services and quality of life for people in Scotland.

18. NHS and Community Care Act 1990

The NHS and Community Care Act 1990, is the cornerstone of community are legislation. The Act gave local authorities the lead responsibility for the planning and co-ordination of community care services in their area and radically altered the structural framework for delivering care.

19. Resource Allocation System ( RAS)

A Resource Allocation System is a means of deciding how much money people are entitled to, to be able to purchase the support they need.

20. Self-Directed Support ( SDS)

Self-directed support is a term that describes the ways in which individuals and families can have informed choice about the way support is provided to them. It includes a range of options for exercising those choices. Through a co-production approach to agreeing individual outcomes, options are considered for ways in which available resources can be used so people can have greater levels of control over how their support needs are met, and by whom.

The choice may include taking a direct payment, having a direct payment managed by a third party, or directing the individual budget to arrange support from the local authority or from a commissioned provider. The choice can also be for a combination of these. This allows people to make purchases from outwith the traditional provider market and to spot purchase from more general goods and services.

21. Self Directed Support Scotland ( SDSS)

Self Directed Support Scotland provides a forum for self-directed support organisations throughout Scotland to work together to promote better outcomes for people receiving or considering direct payments. As a membership organisation, SDSS has a wealth of experience and knowledge of personalisation, self-directed support and its attendant tools, such as direct payments, to call upon.

22. Social Care Market Place

The Social Care Market Place describes the range of possible care providers, such as local authorities, independent agencies and PAs from which an individual can choose the means of care which they feel would most suitably meet their needs.

23. SPAEN

SPAEN is a membership organisation and its members are all people who have made the transition from having their care needs organised by the state to taking over the management and control of their own assistance. SPAEN offers support and advice to personal assistant employers in Scotland.

24. Supporting People

Until 1 April 2008 this UK wide policy and funding framework provided housing related funding and support to vulnerable people to enable them to maintain a stable environment and thereby retain greater independence. It has now been incorporated into the overall envelope of local authority funding allocated by the Scottish Government.

35. Talking Points Framework

The Joint Improvement Team has developed a framework of outcomes for carers and service users called Talking Points. Talking Points builds on good practice in health and social care in engaging with people to focus on the outcomes that they wish to achieve from the assessment and care planning processes. This supports a move away from service-led responses

26. Test Sites

After discussion with COSLA, the Scottish Government has designated three test sites (Glasgow (urban), Highland (remote rural), and Dumfries and Galloway (rural)) which are working to increase the uptake of self-directed support by focusing their work on three themes of intervention: bridging finance; cutting red tape and leadership and training. The test sites are due to conclude their work in January 2011. A fourth test site hosted by NHS Lothian will investigate the use of health monies in SDS packages.

27. VOX (Voices of eXperience)

VOX are a National Mental Health Service User Led organisation, who work in partnership with mental health and related services to ensure that service users get every opportunity to contribute positively to changes in the services that serve them.

28. Young Carers Steering Groups

The Carers Strategy is currently being developed by the Scottish Government in partnership with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( COSLA) and this work is being informed by the work of a Steering Group. As the Carers Strategy will have a specific "lift-out" section on young carers, a Young Carers Steering Group has also been convened. This comprises representatives from the Scottish Government, COSLA, the Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, Carers Scotland, Children 1st, the Social Work Inspection Agency, Barnardos, the NHS in Scotland and the Association of the Directors of Education.